Air Canada suspends some flights to India

Air Canada has suspended flights to Mumbai and New Delhi after two Indian fighter jets were shot down by Pakistani military in an escalating crisis between the neighbouring, nuclear-armed countries.

The airline diverted a flight en route to New Delhi over the Atlantic Ocean and landed back in Toronto, Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told the Star by email Wednesday.

Data from the website flightaware.com indicated that the Air Canada flight, which departed Pearson airport Tuesday night, was over Sweden before turn- ing back. The website shows the flight was in the air for almost14 hours and 20 minutes before returning to Pearson.

Fitzpatrick said there are “no suitable alternate routings” for the airline to take into New Delhi.

The non-stop flight usually takes 13 hours and 45 minutes.

A second flight from Vancouver to New Delhi was also cancelled, Fitzpatrick said. A flight from Toronto to Mumbai was still scheduled to run Wednesday night because it takes a different route from the Delhi flights, he said.

The suspension of flights comes after Pakistan on Wednesday said it shot down two Indian warplanes over its territory, the latest escalation in a growing crisis between the two nuclear-armed countries. Global Affairs Canada said that the country will keep its airspace closed until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Flights from other major airlines, including British Airways and Air India, also had to reroute to avoid transiting over Indian and Pakistani airspace. Multiple Indian airlines tweeted that passenger flights were delayed because of airport closures.

Vancouver resident Sudarshan Bakshi is scheduled to fly to Punjab on Friday. An Order of British Columbia recipient honoured for his charitable service said he is not worried about continuing his annual trip to the state in northern India, which borders Pakistan. Friends and relatives on the ground, he said, have told him the area is safe. Still, Bakshi said he respects the airline’s decision to put passengers first.

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said it shut Pakistani airspace to all commercial flights Wednesday, without elaborating or indicating when flights might resume. It was not clear if the shutdown applied to commercial overflights, though aviation authorities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates stopped all flights to Pakistan.